I saw this tag over at A Little Haze Book Blog, and the questions were so fun, I just had to give it a whirl, and if my sleuthing is correct, it was originally created by Things Eric Reads.

Do you get sick while reading in the car?

Yes! I get sick on anything that’s moving, even while not reading, so I usually just watch the trees go by. When I flew to California this summer, though, I had motion sickness patches and let me tell you, what a godsend.

The Harry Potter Series or The Twilight Saga? Give 3 points to defend your answer.

Point number one, two, and three should just be the review I posted for Sorcerer’s Stone because I think that describes pretty accurately why I love it so much. (And I promise Chamber of Secrets is coming soonish!)

But, alas, that’s asking a lot of you to also read that, so:

1. Harry is, hands down, one of the best protagonists ever. Edward Cullen is a serial creep.
2. The werewolves have actual mythology that makes sense, complex human characteristics, and don’t walk around with their shirt off all the time. They also don’t fall in love with infants.
3. Robert Pattinson vastly preferred the role in which he dies in the same film he’s introduced in over a four-part series playing a sparkly, angsty/constipated vampire who tells his love interest that she smells.

Do you carry a book bag? If so what is in it?

I don’t, but I also do. My work purse always has at least one or two books in it, and I’m usually struggling to carry a third (and sometimes fourth) in my arms on my way in and out. When I’ve got my “going out purse,” which is just a tiny thing, I usually throw a book in the back of my car just in case. EXCEPT FOR THIS WEEKEND WHEN I BROKE DOWN AND HAD NOTHING.

Do you smell your books?

Um, are there people who don’t? I actually JUST did this over the weekend. I was at a flea market, and I absolutely scored on some finds:

• first American edition, 2nd 1912 printing of A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
• second edition, 11th 1965 printing of full LOTR trilogy by JRR Tolkien
• first American edition of Unfinished Tales by Tolkien
• Alice in Wonderland from possibly 1905 based on the inscription

They’re all super old, so my first order of business was to open each of them up and give them a sniff. They smelled old and musty and inky and delightful.

Books with or without illustrations?

Oh, I LOVE illustrations! One of my favorites is the Wildwood trilogy, which not only has colored book plates, but art scattered throughout, and it’s just gorgeous. I think it adds such a fun element.

What book did you love while reading but discovered later it wasn’t quality writing?

Oh, haha, should we chat about Twilight again? Yeah, sure, why not. I absolutely fell for the Twilight craze when it was originally happening. I read Eclipse at least four times just for Jasper, and I went to all the midnight premieres of the movies. As we were coming up on Breaking Dawn, I was starting to really take a second look at the books, and though I still saw both parts of the movie in theaters, I hated both of them and I was pretty over the books. I’ve since decluttered them from my shelves, and while I’m not ashamed at all to have read them and certainly don’t care if others still love them, I definitely would never recommend them.

Do you have any funny stories involving books from your childhood? Please share!

Okay, this revolves around a film adaptation of a book, but it always makes me chuckle, so I’m sharing it. Growing up, I lived in a split-level house. We had the main floor where my bedroom was, but the basement where I did all of my youthful TV-watching and made-up games. When I was about four or so, I was down in the basement watching A Little Princess, and my mom was upstairs doing something.

She said that she suddenly heard me let out this full-body hysterical sob, and thinking the worst, she sprinted down the stairs.

I had just arrived at this pivotal scene:

I mean, can you blame me for crying??? This is the saddest scene in any film ever! But there’s me, four-years-old, absolutely losing it. And as my mom starts frantically asking what’s wrong, I sob out, “PAPA DOESN’T KNOW SARAH!” It was a hard time in my little life.

What is the thinnest book on your shelf?

Ummmm? Probably a poetry book, which I have many of. I can’t say for sure which of them, though, and honestly I have enough that I’m not going to go looking.

What is the thickest book on your shelf?

Oh, this is definitely my collected works of Shakespeare. It’s the B&N edition, and it’s massive.

Do you write as well as read? Do you see yourself in the future becoming an author?

Gods willing, I’ll be published someday. I have a tag on the blog where all of my writing can be found, and if you’re curious about what I’m currently working on, check out my current projects post. I also chatted quite a bit about my writing journey in one of my more popular posts, How Do You Know When Your Novel is Done?

When did you get into reading?

I know I’ve shared this picture once before, but I just think it’s so cute. I was definitely read to before this historic moment in time, but this was also the pivotal turning point in my life as a reader. My dad started reading Harry Potter to me at seven, and by the time we’d gotten to the fourth one, I was in the fifth grade, and I started reading them on my own, which was both the birth of my reading and writing career.

What is your favourite classic book?

For a split second, I thought this was going to be super difficult, but nahhhhh:

I’ve loved To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee for a long time. I first read it in high school with my favorite teacher, whose son was named Atticus after the father in this. I fell in love purely for that, and then continued to adore it as the years passed. I’ve never fallen out of love with it, and though I think I’ve only read it twice, it stands out to me the most out of everything. I’m not going to tarnish this too much by talking about Go Set a Watchman, which I actually threw in the trash.

However, as I’m writing this, I’m realizing that another solid contender could definitely be The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy, which I was also nervous about when she finally wrote another novel, though that one did not break my heart, so there you go, a two-for-one.

In school was your best subject English or another Language Arts subject?

English, for sure. I was in every advanced class I could get my hands on in high school, as well as any creative writing classes. In college, I challenged myself to take every single intro & advanced creative writing course that they offered, which meant I took eight classes when we were only required to take four, but also means that I have solid knowledge in Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Screenwriting, so really, I think I’m the one who won here.

If you were given a book as a present that you had read before and hated, what would you do?

Obviously not tell the person that, but instead act grateful until I could later declutter it, and then likely lie about mildly liking it. I’ve definitely done all of these things before, but most of the people in my life either know my tastes or know better than to buy me books if they don’t.

What is a lesser known series that you know of that is similar to Harry Potter or The Hunger Games?

It’s Wayward Son release day, so I’m absolutely going to drop this in for Harry Potter:

That is, gay Harry Potter. But, if you want an actual rec that’s like Harry Potter, I’d recommend The Paper Magician series by Charlie N. Holmberg. It’s not really set in school, but Ceony is working through an apprenticeship, and the magic in it is absolutely delightful.

I haven’t read Hunger Games, so can’t really speak to what’s similar to it.

What is your favourite word?

Honestly, I don’t know, and I recognize this is cheating, not answering, but so many people have asked me this question before, and I really don’t love one word over another because if you write any word enough times, it becomes awful because it’s no longer recognizable.

Are you a Nerd, Dork, or Dweeb? Or all of the above?

What’s the difference?

Okay, wow, I just Googled the different definitions, and they’re all terrible.

Vampires or Faeries?

FAERIES! Even if vampires hadn’t been overwhelmingly ruined by modern media, faeries would still win. They’re basically small, homicidal elves, what’s not to love?

Bookmark or Random Piece of Paper?

Here we go.

It’s time for all of you to find out about this.

Are you ready?

I’m literally shimmying in my seat, I’m so excited to shout this.

I DOG EAR MY PAGES!

AND I DON’T CARE!

Love Triangle or Forbidden Love?

I’m in the middle of reading The Infernal Devices trilogy by Cassandra Clare, and it’s possibly one of the only love triangles I don’t mind. Another one that comes to mind is:

The Disasters by MK England kind of has a love triangle, but there’s no drama, and the love triangle is full of queer rep, so I ended up liking it.

I also like forbidden loves, but I can’t think of a single one right now. I know I’ve read them and enjoyed them, just drawing a major blank.

One book at a time or several books at once?

When I was in high school, I used to read no less than six books at a time. SIX. It was awful. I couldn’t keep anything straight, and it would take me months to get through them all because I kept starting and stopping. In college, I was on a strict one book at a time rule, and it was pretty neat. I’ve carried that on into my adult years, but I’ve slowly been introducing multiple reading again, and I actually really like it.

I don’t go above three (very occasionally four, but only if one is a graphic novel) now, and they’re always in different genres. But I find being able to slip out of a heavy fantasy into a contemporary or nonfiction is really helpful.

Can you stop reading at any part of the book or does it have to be the end of the chapter?

I either need to stop at the end of a chapter or at a scene/page break. Stopping in the middle of something is the worst for me. I can’t remember anything that’s happened, and I end up being super lost when trying to find my place again. I know how fast I read, so if I can realistically see that I don’t have enough time to read, I just won’t.

Do you write in your books?

It depends. Poetry, yes. I’ll highlight, write notes, use any sorts of diagrams and arrows and circles that I’ll later forget how to decipher. In textbooks, also yes, and even some novels that I read for college because I was writing essays. But in general? No, never.

Can you read while listening to music or watching TV?

Most of the time, yes. I usually listen to Sleeping at Last while I read, whether it’s his Space album, Oceans EP, or astronomy series.

Other go-to albums are Delta by Mumford & Sons, Cleopatra by The Lumineers, and literally anything by SYML. When I’m at home, I like to listen to the piano radio station from Apple Music. Sometimes, music, even instrumental, is too distracting, though that’s usually because of me, not the book.

I can almost never watch TV whilst reading. Even if I’m not the one watching it, I have to put headphones on if I’m in the same room. It doesn’t matter what it is, I get sucked into it.

Do you read out loud or silently in your head?

Silently. The only time I read out loud is when I’m reading to someone, and even then, I’m not sure I actually read silently. I definitely don’t actively hear the words in my head.

BONUS QUESTION: Physical book, e-book or audio book?

PHYSICAL BOOK! I have this old picture from April 2018 that makes me want to sit down every time I see it:

THAT’S NOT EVEN A LOT, CONSIDERING. I have so many more now, and I’ve definitely unhauled some of these. But this was right when I was moving back to my parents’ house, and I sorted everything alphabetically just to figure out what was what, and when I was done, my brother (who works in environmental science) said, “Okay, I have to leave. This is stressing me out. There’s so much paper.”

I just really love being surrounded by books.

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That was so long, holy goodness!